PS 3507 
.E15 C5 
1918 
Copy 



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HMMB 



pOEMS 

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TI]e Hoosier Poetess 










CHILDHOOD DAYS 

AND 

OTHER POEMS 



BY 

ANGELINE HAWKINS DEACON 

THE HOOSIER POETESS 



LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 
1918 




Copyright, 1918 

By 

Angeline Hawkins Deacon 

All Rights Reserved 



©Ci.A5yi754 



SEP 10(918 



AKfGELINE HAWKINS DEACON 

THE HOOSIER POETESS 

was born and reared in SKelt>) County), WasKington TownsKip, Indiana 



Childhood Days 

Oh! the happy childhood days of long ago, 
When to Grandmother's a-visiting we'd go. 
Upon the threshold of the old farmhouse she met us 
And shading her eyes o'er, she said "Well, bless us! 

"There's Angeline and George and Tom and Mary, too, — 

Know you're all very tired and weary, too. 

Come right in and all of you set down 

While Grandmother brings in crullers crisp and brown. 

"And hangs the kettle of chicken on the crane 
And picks the berries down by the pasture lane.'* 
Then, oh! the chicken and the gravy steaming hot. 
And the coffee from the old tin coffee pot! 

And then the jelly and the berry pie 
For us — George, Tommy, Mary dear and I; 
And then to the garden where the flowers grew, — 
The marigolds, pinks and the larkspur's blue. 

Then to the apple orchard on the hill 
To gather the pippins for the old cider mill. 
And then to the old log barn across the way. 
To play and romp upon the new mown hay. 

Oh ! the happy childhood days of long ago. 
When to Grandmother's a-visiting we'd go. 



To the Flat Rock 

Ah ! river that rolls by the old church-yard walls, 
Where loved ones have long since been sleeping, 
While lingering by the green mounds, it recalls 
The past, when I sat there a-weeping. 

Thy current doth sweep by the rugged old walls; 
Thy waters murmur at my feet. 
While o'er the flat rocks thy gray ripples fall, 
And the oaks' shadows o'er thee do meet. 

Ah! river of halcyon days of the old, 

How oft on thy brink have I sat ! 

While the sun o'er thy bed spread its wings of bright 

gold, 
And have gazed on the beauties of that. 

Thy bosom doth swell and boil over thy banks, 
And fiercely whirls down the broad road, 
In battlement with the foot bridge and planks. 
While by thy mad waters do roar. 

As thy floods abate, I gaze on thy shore, 

And think of past days spent with thee 

And those who have gone to the Heavenly shore. 

The many dear ones there to see. 

The thousand and one thoughts I now tell to thee, 

Of memories my mind now recalls. 

And many fleeting scenes that come back to me 

Of thee and the church-yard walls. 

March 31, 1911. 

6 



The Maple Sugar Camp 

Tom, you remember the maple sugar camp 
To which you and I were often wont to tramp? 
In the springtime father tapped the waking trees 
And then two spiles put in each one of these. 

Then, too, j^ou remember the old war-horse, Bill, 
That pulled the maple sap upon the hill. 
When the farm house dinner-bell would loudly ring, 
We'd mount and to his hames we'd tightly cling. 

He'd prance and scarcely a minute would he stay — 
He wanted to get his feed of corn and hay! 
Ah, Tom, those childhood days are passed and o'er. 
We've parted since — the camp, it is no more. 



Fairest of Women 

O thou fair — thou fairest of women! 
No more along the sandy shore 
We'll stroll, as in the days of yore, 
And smile at the moon's silvery rays 
Above the ocean's mantling sprays. 

No more along the canyon deep 
We'll stroll, nor climb the mountain steep 
To watch the falling crystal stream 
Basking in the golden gleam. 

No more shall I behold thy face; 
Nor shall my arms thy form embrace. 
Still, o'er all these scenes of the tender past 
Fondest, ah! fondest memories last, 
Thou fair and fairest of women ! 



The Jersey Cow 

When a lad, my Pa sent me to the old barn shed 
To milk that pesky Jersey cow, "Old Red." 
She kicked! And I went heels over my head, 
When up I jumped and beat her till most dead. 

Then Pa said, "Son, that's not the way to do. 
Give me the pail — come now and I'll show you — 
I'll milk that 'pesky old red Jersey cow'." 
And Pa set down and 'gan to show me how. 

When Bang ! went the pail, and Pa, heels over head. 
Was sent a-sprawling out to the side of the shed. 
Then up he jumped and beat her till most dead. 
While I stood laughing in the old barn shed. 



The Bond is Severed 

The tie that bound you and me 

Is severed, dear — you would be free! 

Ah, bitter, bitter tears I shed 

As from the gloomy court I tread; 

For I still love you, just the same 

As before you into prominence came. 

For years I've thought of you — just you! 
To you I've ever, ever been true. 
Ah! why leave me so sad, so lone? 
I love but you, and you alone. 
Though my aching heart you break. 
Ah! you will ever, ever me forsake. 

Alone, alone — all, all alone 
In the vine-clad cottage, once our home? 
We've spent happy years together 
Midst the clear and cloudy weather, 
When our interests were the same — 
Before you into prominence came. 



10 



Since You Have Gone, Joshua 

The old home place, Joshua, 
To me is not the same 
Since you have gone away. 

The place is all over-grown with weeds and tall grass 

green, 
And weird the crickets chant in the grassy dell by the 

stream 
Since you have gone away. 

And a loneliness creeps over me 
When I hear the cooings of the dove 

In the orchard where oft we strolled and sat by the cove, 
Since you have gone away. 

The water tank stands empty now upon the tower, 
There's no one to turn the crank that gives the power. 
Since you have gone away. 

The pink Ramona hollyhock to the east of the house is 
in bloom. 

And the white geranium to the west near the north bed- 
room. 
Since you have gone away. 

Ah! the old home place, Joshua, 
To me is not the same 

Since you have gone away. 



11 



The Cabin Home 

Ah, the old cabin home 

Where all untutored the blue bells bloom! 

Where the children used to romp and play 

Upon the new-mown clover hay, 

And paddled and waded in the silvery brook, 

And sat in the Cottonwood's shady nook; 

Where the sun sank low, 

And the home fires burned on the hearth a-glow. 

We'd gather around and sing and play 

As the evening hours we whiled away. 

Ah, for the days that are now no more. 

When the children played by the cabin door! 



12 



The Old Man 

He carried a cane to aid him on his way ; 

His hair was long and of a silvery gray; 

His eyes were dim, his features haggard and wan; 

His hands were long, and slender, shriveled and drawn; 

His coat was a cut-a-way of a dingy brown, 

Which he wore while trudging about the seaport town. 

He wore an old fashioned, broad brimmed, black wool 

hat, 
With a cord tied 'round the crown both old and flat. 

His shoes were old and worn, ill-shaped, unkept, 
At night up the rickety garret stairs he crept 
To his dimly lighted room, so cold and drear, 
With no bright face to meet him or to cheer. 

There he sat a-thinking of past years. 

While down his cheeks fell salt and bitter tears. 

Let us be kind and gentle to the old, 

Lead them along life's path to peace untold. 



13 



Ma's Wash Day 

When a lad, on my Ma's wash day, 

Me and little sister May 

Wore old clothes, all ragged and tore. 

We wanted to go to Uncle Mc's store. 

Ma said, "You can't go looking that way." 

Then we went out as if to play. 

Then down the road to Uncle Mc's store ; 

Got some gum and candy galore. 

When me and sister May got back 

Ma said she oughter switch my back! 



14 



The Alarm Clock 

For a quarter of a century or more 

Of the school-day years, that clock IVe heard at four 

Spinning out its music by the yard, 

I'd feel like casting it into the yard. 

In the early morning at break of dawn 
I'd turn and give a gape, a sigh, a yawn, 
Longing for more rest, and another nap 
When away that clock would go a flippity-fliap ! 

And now the many days of school are o'er, 
The music of that clock I hear no more. 
They're scattered now, the children, far and wide. 
And the old clock's silent on the mantel side. 



15 



The Cabin on the Hill 

Do you remember the cabin on the hill 
Near the little country village mill? 
And to that village, dear, oft we'd go 
When the golden sun was sinking low. 
Ah! dear, then love was new to us. 
Ah! that it could always have been thus — 
The happy days of long ago 
When to that village oft we'd go. 

Near the cabin stood the old oak tree. 

In youth, it sheltered you and me ; 

And from the garden where the flowers grew 

We gathered the pinks and lark-spur blue. 

And shadows were falling, dear, 

As we strolled to the forest near. 

Ah! the happy days of long ago 

When to that village oft we'd go. 



16 



The Baby 

In the stilly night when naught was heard 
Save the calling of the sad night bird, 
On his mother's lap the baby lay 
While his life was ebbing fast away. 

"Say, Mamma dear, why do you weep? 
The angels your darling babe will keep." 
At the dawn his life had ebbed away — 
The baby has gone to Heaven to stay. 



17 



An livening Prayer 

Heavenly Father: 

Thou hast been with me through the day 
And helped me o'er the stony way. 
O Father! help me live each day 
So when Death's summons comes to me 
I'll welcome Thine eternity. 



18 



Two Little Girls in Brown 

To 
Pauline and Laurine. 

Two little girls all dressed in brown 
Came to the farm from the village town, 
To stroll the turfless country lanes 
And roam the flower-covered plains. 

Together they ran to the meadow green 
Where the cows, Old Red and Bess were seen, 
Nipping the blue-eyed clover tall 
Till the shades of night began to fall. 

They talked about the chick-a-dee 
And the silver shadows on the tree 
And the little pony, "Dolly Brown," 
And then of going back to town — 
When the leaves 

were turning 

a russet brown. 



19 



Sallie Jones 

Sallie Jones is very queer and odd. 
She passed me by and didn't even nod. 
That's very strange of SalHe, I must say, 
For her to treat me shamefully that way. 

Now don't you think Sallie's odd for that; 
For, you know, she wears a broad-brimmed hat 
And oft in a dreamy mood she strolls along 
As if thinking of some poem, verse or song. 

But I'd think that every one she'd treat alike 
When she goes slowly sauntering down the pike ; 
But she sees all the flowers and the rippling brooks — 
Yet, as for greeting people, why, she seldom looks! 



20 



My Shanty Home 

Song. 

The dearest spot on earth to me 

Is my shanty home 
NestHng 'neath the hill 
By the rippling rill. 

There the lark sings by the stream 
And the grass is ever green 
And the fairest flowers grow 
Around this spot, you know. 

Chorus. 
The fairy spot I've longed to see 
Is home, sweet home, to me — 
My shanty home. 



21 



Love 

Young man, if with a maiden you're falling in love 
And you are in no position to marry the little dove, 

From her you had better stay away; 

For soon your mind will swing and sway. 
Before you are aware of such a thing, 
On her finger will go a wedding ring! 

Now, love is like a possum in the top of a tree — 
It is very hard to shake off, you see. 



22 



Two Little Boys 

Two little curly-haired boys 
Playing with their tops and toys. 
What do you think their names can be? 
Just little Frederick and J. B. 

When they see their grandmamma a-coming, 
They clap their hands, their voices a-humming, 
And they run to Daddy and say, "Come, see 
What Grandmamma has brought for we three !" 



23 



Twilight 



While the twilight shadows gather round, 
The window shades are drawn down. 
The water in the kettle is hot, 
Ready for the tea-urn pot. 
The table is spread : around we gather 
To dine and sip the tea together. 

I composed this stanza on the road 
from Randsburg to Pasadena, 
January 7, 1909. 



24 



Marigold 

Marigold! Marigold! 

How I love you, Marigold. 

Your rich beauty I behold 

While you my hands tight enfold. 



25 



Sunset on Puget Sound 

The Sun was setting on the Puget Sound 
When for Vancouver we were bound. 
The golden beams of red and purple hue 
Danced and dazzled upon the waters blue. 
A picture more glorious we seldom see 
Than the setting Sun on the arm of the sea. 



26 



My Lost Breakfast Cap 

I hung it on the back of the chair 
When I looked it was not there. 
IVe looked and looked the whole house o'er 
Until my patience is tried and sore. 

Then again I looked and looked in utter despair ; 
Then I figured out daddy took it off in his coat he hung 
on the back of the chair. 



27 



Scene in Kern River Oil Fields, 
California 

On the veranda, in the balmy air, 
Mother, seated in an easy chair. 
Watched the evening's mellowing shadows 
Lengthen on the slopes of the hills 
And along the grass-fringed rills; 
And the Sun's red and golden arrows 
Tinged the lofty derricks and towers 
And fell upon the bespangled flowers. 



28 






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